Review: HTC 8X is the best Windows Phone 8 handset out there (Updated)

Screen, camera, and speed are good, though we'd like more battery life.

Windows Phone 8 was finally released earlier in November. With it, two major contenders for the title of 'premier Windows Phone 8 handset' emerged: the HTC 8X and the Nokia Lumia 920.

The Lumia 920 carried forward the mobile commitment Microsoft and Nokia made to each other last year with the Lumia 900, but HTC is now making a play for the Windows Phone crown. Microsoft offered ringing endorsements for both entries, but the one for the 8X felt a bit more sincere. After handling the phone for a bit, we can see why: we judged the HTC 8X to be the best Windows Phone 8 handset available in the first part of our ultimate smartphone guide. The HTC 8X simply gives us more reason to take Windows Phone 8 seriously than any other handset has before.

Though HTC phones aren't always all-around impressive, they tend to nail one aspect more than any other manufacturer: body design. My favorite all time phone to hold remains the HTC Radar, and the 8X harkens back to that design in some ways. The rounded edges are much sharper, but the way the curved polycarbonate back feels in-hand is really comfortable. The phone isn't all that thin, but due to the tapered edges it feels much slimmer than its closest competitor, the Nokia Lumia 920, despite a maximum thickness difference of only 0.6 millimeters.

Enlarge/ Left to right: the HTC's camera button, volume rocker, and SIM compartment.

The sleep button is placed on the top right corner, with a volume rocker and camera button on the right side. All of these buttons are very low-profile and shallow, so it's hard to feel them click. The microUSB port is centered on the bottom of the phone, and the SIM port occupies the other side of the top right corner. A single speaker is centered on the lower back of the phone. An indicator light that turns red when the phone is charging is placed inside the speaker grill above the screen.

The sound quality of that speaker (Beats Audio-certified and approved by Dr. Dre, per usual for HTC) is actually quite impressive—it's loud with little distortion at the top volume and the bass is solid, if not resounding. Call quality is typical for a cell phone: not fantastic but you can discern at a basic level what other person is saying. They can do the same for you.

When it comes to rendering imagery within apps or the browser, though, the quality of the screen is not so great, particularly if it's a non-mobile webpage. Fonts in can be a bit on the jagged side, and we often get pages that load off-center. Strangely, the mobile versions of YouTube pages are highly susceptible to this.

We were impressed with the quality of the 8-megapixel camera in the phone. The lens is f2.0, 28mm, and backside-illuminated, and we found it took great shots even in low lighting. HTC does not make the same grand low-light claims that Nokia does for its Lumia 920, but we didn't find the performance lacking in any way.

The screen is crisp and bright within the operating system, even at the lowest brightness setting (of which there are only three: low, medium, high). Compared to the surrounding bezel, blacks at the highest brightness setting are noticeably washed out but they blend pretty well at the lowest.

On handling and using around both this phone and the Lumia 920, Ars Associate Writer Andrew Cunningham had this to say:

Coming from an iPhone or even a larger Android phone like the Optimus G, the 920's size is striking (and not in a good way). The Optimus G fits a larger screen and much faster hardware into a thinner, lighter, and more attractive package. The smooth, rounded plastic body of the 920 also fails to give you much to grip....By contrast, the 8X feels much nicer in our hands. Its screen is a bit smaller—4.3 inches and 1280x720 compared to 4.5 inches and 1280x768 in the 920—but it's also much thinner. Its back tapers more gradually than the 920, which I find makes it sit in my hand more comfortably. This tapered edge exists on all sides of the phone as well; the 920 has rounded left and right edges, but the top and bottom of the phone aren't rounded at all. When I'm holding a smartphone, I usually find myself propping the bottom of the phone on my pinky finger to provide extra stability. The increased weight and flat bottom of the 920 made this much less comfortable.

...That said, this is a case where the specifications don't quite capture what it's like to actually use a piece of hardware every day. The 920 includes quite a few extra perks, but we feel that the 8X is generally the stronger, more comfortable phone for day-to-day use. Nokia's phone just isn't as comfortable to hold and to carry around.

Inside the 8X is a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon processor with dual-core 1.5GHz Krait CPU and Adreno 225 GPU. Actual benchmarking applications are pretty scant across the Windows Phone platform and, sadly, none have emerged as sound performance evaluators. For now, we are restricted to our Javascript benchmarks from SunSpider and Google Octane v1.

The two benchmarks tell entirely different stories. The 8X performs terribly at Google Octane with a bench of 610, half the score of the iPhone 5, Sony's Xperia TL, and far less than half the score of the Galaxy S III. But in Sunspider, on the other hand, it does fantastically with a bench of 901. This outscores the iPhone 5 and leaves all the other phones in the dust.

The usual caveats about Javascript performance obviously apply here: each platform uses different approaches, and tests showcase their strengths and weaknesses in different ways. The 8X isn't an out-and-out success in this area, but subjectively speaking, it loads pages fast enough that we aren't gravely concerned by its Octane performance.

The battery life of the HTC 8X is probably what leaves most to be desired. HTC rates the 1800mAh battery at up to 11.3 hours of talk time, but provides no estimates for video or music playback. We found that when we played videos, the battery got only 5.3 hours at medium brightness and full volume. To be fair, the speaker is quite loud, so we tried it again at half-brightness and half-volume: 5.6 hours, very little improvement. You could go lower still with the brightness and the volume, but we're betting it wouldn't help much.

The phone fares better in day-to-day use. When we used the phone for some messaging, e-mailing, Web-browsing, and a little music-listening, we found it lasted easily into the evening, until 8 or 9 p.m., before needing a charge.

Our usage is probably on the heavy side of normal, so if you don't do so much messaging or browsing, you can get through the day with the 8X. Just watch your video usage. A "battery saver" mode does kick in for Windows Phone handsets (indicated by a heart symbol on the battery icon) when power runs low, which prevents apps from running in the background and turns off push notifications on e-mail.

When it comes to how the operating system and hardware work together, the HTC 8X is a joy to use. It's nice to hold, responsive and quick, the on-screen keyboard works great, and there are virtually no hitches to speak of. But the same old problem plagues the Windows Phone platform: it lacks a wide selection of interesting apps. Many of our favorites have some relationship with Windows Phone, but it's not the greatest: there is a Netflix app that doesn't work so well; Spotify and Hulu have apps in the works but nothing official yet.

Though the platform has been out for a few weeks now, not many major players came prepared. It's nice that they'll get to it, but the problem is, well, they'll get to it. To be fair, Microsoft was very cagey about Windows Phone 8 to the very last minute. It doesn't seem like many, if any, developers got the drop on making their apps work for the new release.

Still the platform doesn't seem like a priority for many. That's fair, given Windows Phone's market share is in the single digits, but it's becoming a self-perpetuating problem. Developers don't really care about Windows Phone because no one uses it, and no one uses it because developers don't really care about it. If you plan to do much beyond what the stock apps on Windows Phone offer, this position in the market must be something you take into account. Be prepared to at best be patient and wait for developers to take it seriously. At worst, be comfortable with the reality it may never rise to the top of any development studio's to-do list.

But for now, at least, we can enjoy some quality handsets, particularly this one. For our direct comparison of the HTC 8X against the Lumia 920 and more on why we like it better, check out part one of our Ultimate Smartphone Guide.

Good

Screen is bright and crisp with nice color distribution

Performance is fluid and quick throughout the OS

Speaker is loud and produces good sound

Body design is fantastic, feels great to hold

Camera takes nice shots

Bad

Battery life is on the short side

Hardware buttons are shallow so it's hard to feel the press

Ugly

The Windows Phone store is still foundering in the shoals and has been for a year now, and we're really wondering when—or even if—it will get the traction it needs

I disagree with a few points here. I'm not sure why you contend that the 8X is the best WP8 phone vs the similarly specced Lumia 920, is it only the size? Granted, the 920 is a large, heavy phone. If you prioritize small and light, that could be seen as a bad thing, but if you prioritize having a device that feels well built from high quality materials, the Lumia 920 feels superior to the 8X.

The Lumia 920 has no problems with jaggy text, and has a larger higher resolution screen than the 8X (4.5" 1280x768 vs 4.3" 1280x720). I did try loading the same YouTube video, and it has the same problem with text floating off of the edge of the screen, but I'm thinking that's an IE10 issue. I've seen a few of those so far, but they aren't common, and will likely go away as more web pages are designed for IE10 in the future.

The Lumia 920 has 32GB of storage vs 16GB on the 8X.

The Lumia 920 is $99 and comes with a free wireless charging pad, the 8X is $199 and does not (prices with a contract renewal, as most phones are purchased in the US, it's $459 for the Lumia vs $549 for the 16gb 8X if you go contract-less).

The speaker on the 8X is on the back, which means it will be muffled if you use a case or lay it on the table while using the speakerphone. On the 920 the speaker is on the bottom - so with the right case or laying the phone down flat, there is no muffling.

The battery is large on the 920, and in my experience the battery life has been excellent (easy to get through an entire day with moderate to heavy use and still have decent charge left at the end, though I will admit that some people are experiencing faster battery drain).

I've never made a call on the 8X, but on the 920 calls are clear and high quality.

So, with the Lumia, you get a better screen, a larger battery, more storage, wireless charging capability, a better camera, and the exclusive Nokia apps, all for less money. Is the only criteria for crowning the 8X the best that it's smaller and lighter? Those are the only areas that I can see where the 8X has an edge (and even then only if you care about your devices being small and/or light).

1. Why not be specific about measurements or facts? Some things, such as screen resolution, battery life, whether there were any apps that you couldn't find, are able to be identified, articulated, and compared to other phones..

2. Most readers of this article are keen to see how the device stacks up against the Lumia 920. Why not have a direct comparison? As NulloModo has written above, there's a mountain of evidence that the 920 is superior - I'd like to see your take on why not, particularly given the article's title.

I disagree with a few points here. I'm not sure why you contend that the 8X is the best WP8 phone vs the similarly specced Lumia 920, is it only the size? Granted, the 920 is a large, heavy phone. If you prioritize small and light, that could be seen as a bad thing, but if you prioritize having a device that feels well built from high quality materials, the Lumia 920 feels superior to the 8X.

The Lumia 920 has no problems with jaggy text, and has a larger higher resolution screen than the 8X (4.5" 1280x768 vs 4.3" 1280x720). I did try loading the same YouTube video, and it has the same problem with text floating off of the edge of the screen, but I'm thinking that's an IE10 issue. I've seen a few of those so far, but they aren't common, and will likely go away as more web pages are designed for IE10 in the future.

The Lumia 920 has 32GB of storage vs 16GB on the 8X.

The Lumia 920 is $99 and comes with a free wireless charging pad, the 8X is $199 and does not (prices with a contract renewal, as most phones are purchased in the US, it's $459 for the Lumia vs $549 for the 16gb 8X if you go contract-less).

The speaker on the 8X is on the back, which means it will be muffled if you use a case or lay it on the table while using the speakerphone. On the 920 the speaker is on the bottom - so with the right case or laying the phone down flat, there is no muffling.

The battery is large on the 920, and in my experience the battery life has been excellent (easy to get through an entire day with moderate to heavy use and still have decent charge left at the end, though I will admit that some people are experiencing faster battery drain).

I've never made a call on the 8X, but on the 920 calls are clear and high quality.

So, with the Lumia, you get a better screen, a larger battery, more storage, wireless charging capability, a better camera, and the exclusive Nokia apps, all for less money. Is the only criteria for crowning the 8X the best that it's smaller and lighter? Those are the only areas that I can see where the 8X has an edge (and even then only if you care about your devices being small and/or light).

I agree.. I don't think there was any mention of why the 8X is better than the Lumia 920 besides the weight and size. I guess you have to take these reviews (as with many reviews) as highly subjective and look at what you really want.

When I saw the 8X I thought it was one of the most attractive handset designs I had ever seen, especially in the neon yellow. I was using a Samsung GS3 and iPhone 4S and have always been curious about WP8 especially with all the hype and promise of innovation.

The lack of apps make this phone one of the worst experiences I have ever had with a phone. Its like driving a Corvette on a windy neighborhood street filled with speed bumps.

Music: The beats audio is hard to use because the only streaming music app i've been able to fine is iHeartRadio. No Spotify, Pandora, Slacker, Soundcloud

Syncing was difficult until i auth'd my home folder in the file menu of the Windows Phone Sync app for mac

I used to own a Zune, I loved my zune. I still love my zune, i would trade my iPhone for a old school moto razr + zune in a heartbeat. Unfortunately i own a mac and macs and zunes don't communicate. The music app is NOTHING like zune, it is very difficult to navigate, and if you want to browse the web and lets say you need to change the track or pause, you have to go on a hunt to find the controls. It is a very disappointing app, the only thing i feel it has in common with zune is the fonts, I'm sad inside because i thought I'd finally be able to have my zune experience again. Nope.

Web:IE is crap, I use a ton of tabs and the hassle fo navigating between tabs is cumbersome and the browser is slow to render sites. Halowaypoint.com has an awful stutter on the top banner that is very annoying, and thats even a MS website! No add on browsers that ive come across, I'd love to install chrome of FF

MS Acct:You can't add more than one MS account, so if you have a hotmail account (for work) that you use for email and contacts and also want to use your xbox acct (personal) you can only use one MS acct. To change it means to do a factory reset on the device. There is no option to switch in and out of MS accts like on iOS and Droid. The MOST annoying and surprisingly overlooked aspect of the OS in my opinion.

I really want this OS to thrive and gleam, there is so much potential but Microsoft has fumbled so badly the user experience and made complicated things that don't need to be reinvented. I have a mac, xbox, and multiple outlook and hotmails accounts. Using this phone is a pain in the ass.

I'm not a huge app-hound, but after having a Lumia 920 for about a week, here is my impression of the app situation for windows phone thus far:

The built in apps cover the bases well - Nokia Drive is a great navigation app, IE10 is a very good phone browser, XBox Music is a great alternative to Spotify or Pandora, and the built in MS Office suite is handy if you need to deal with any documents on your phone.

The major apps are almost all available - I was able to find and download my standbys - Words With Friends and Shazaam were both easy to find, and both work

There are plenty of apps that do the same thing as the app you might have used on iOS or Android - I was able to find a nice financial/loan calculator, and there are tons of free and pay games, as well as general productivity and media authoring/editing apps.

I see the app situation for WP8 as being similar to the one for MacOS back in the early days of OSX - if you need to do something, you'll likely be able to find the app that does it. The one you were used to using on iOS may not be there, and there might not be 10 options to do the same thing as there are for iOS or Android, but you won't be left out in the cold.

Screen is bright and crisp with nice color distributionPerformance is fluid and quick throughout the OSSpeaker is loud and produces good soundBody design is fantastic, feels great to holdCamera takes nice shots

This is what makes it the "best"? The exact same thing could be said about the 920 (and has been). I don't see anything in the article that makes the 8X soundly beat the 920 except for objective opinion. The benchmark section had the only other realistic competition to this phone completely absent as well. Why is the 920 not in the benchmarks? The only thing that I can see that would sway the writer to saying the 8X is the "best" is the formfactor. That doesn't make it the best; not by a longshot.

I own neither phone but the 8X is twice the price, has half the storage, doesn't have any of the exclusive WP8 apps (though the usefulness is debatable), doesn't have wireless charging (something NO REVIEW has ever related to the increased weight on the 920), and the only real difference is that it's a bit thinner and lighter. There's absolutely nothing factual about why it's better, this is nothing more than subjective opinion while ignoring glaring drawbacks compared to the 920.

Oh, and it's Beats branded. That alone is reason enough to leave it on the shelf and buy the 920. No one should ever buy anything with that branding on it, actual hardware included or not.

Web:IE is crap, I use a ton of tabs and the hassle fo navigating between tabs is cumbersome and the browser is slow to render sites. Halowaypoint.com has an awful stutter on the top banner that is very annoying, and thats even a MS website! No add on browsers that ive come across, I'd love to install chrome of FF

I wouldn't call it crap. My experience has been it's very fast to load pages (although my previous point of reference was an iPhone 3GS), and rendering errors have been pretty rare in the pages I've visited. I love the option to change the default mode to desktop to avoid mobile sites (yet somehow some webpages still figure out I'm on a phone and serve me the mobile version instead, I'm not sure how or why that is happening).

You can replace the 'refresh' button with a tab button to make tab management easier. I would prefer a slightly different interface for websites. Something like Safari on iOS where the chrome disappears if you scrolle down, but allows for navigation to the top of the page with a single tap would be nice. A dedicated back button for use in IE10 instead of the global back button that will take you to your last app instead of your last viewed web page if you leave IE and come back to it would also be nice.

Quote:

MS Acct:You can't add more than one MS account, so if you have a hotmail account (for work) that you use for email and contacts and also want to use your xbox acct (personal) you can only use one MS acct. To change it means to do a factory reset on the device. There is no option to switch in and out of MS accts like on iOS and Droid. The MOST annoying and surprisingly overlooked aspect of the OS in my opinion.

I really want this OS to thrive and gleam, there is so much potential but Microsoft has fumbled so badly the user experience and made complicated things that don't need to be reinvented. I have a mac, xbox, and multiple outlook and hotmails accounts. Using this phone is a pain in the ass.

I was lucky here - I didn't previously have any MS accounts, so I've just made a new one to be my MS account for everything. I can see how it would be annoying if that wasn't the case, and yeah, that seems like an odd oversight.

It's crazy to see Microsoft struggle. A few years back I thought they were untouchable on top of the personal computing market. Let's face it they acted like complete jerks back then and I can't help but smirk at some of their struggles now. Yet I want WP8 to succeed, and I'm not sure why. Maybe my gut is telling me that 3 players in the market would be best for consumers. Maybe it's Microsoft's traditional role as the best choice for gamers. I think metro works brilliantly on a phone and it's truly forward thinking for Microsoft. I'm going to try this phone out, but I'm such a heavy app user I'm not sure I can make the leap. These next couple of years are going to be very interesting. Very reminiscent of the 80's and 90's when the PC market was shaking out. What a great time to be a nerd.

Just some food for thought: different people place different priorities on form factor. For some people, form factor is very important. I recently bought the 8x and I love it's form factor, although it wasn't the primary deciding factor for me.

For me, the primary deciding factor is that the 920 is on AT&T only, and I absolutely refuse to leave T-mo for AT&T. If the phone were on Verizon or Sprint, maybe, but not AT&T.

Some of the features of the 920 would be nice, but I don't feel like there are any glaring omissions or problems with the phone. FWIW I came from a rooted Android phone before this one.

MS Acct:You can't add more than one MS account, so if you have a hotmail account (for work) that you use for email and contacts and also want to use your xbox acct (personal) you can only use one MS acct. To change it means to do a factory reset on the device. There is no option to switch in and out of MS accts like on iOS and Droid. The MOST annoying and surprisingly overlooked aspect of the OS in my opinion.

You can add multiple accounts to the phone for email, contacts, calendars and tasks. yes, you have a primary account used for things like app purchases, but there's no limit to the accounts you can to the phone.

The music app is NOTHING like zune, it is very difficult to navigate, and if you want to browse the web and lets say you need to change the track or pause, you have to go on a hunt to find the controls.

To gain access to the music playback controls (play/pause, back, next) from anywhere on the phone, just touch the phone's volume rocker. To go to the "now playing" screen, just touch the name of the track that appears with the controls on screen.

just asking wrote:

Web:IE is crap, I use a ton of tabs and the hassle fo navigating between tabs is cumbersome and the browser is slow to render sites. Halowaypoint.com has an awful stutter on the top banner that is very annoying, and thats even a MS website! No add on browsers that ive come across, I'd love to install chrome of FF.

IE10 is fine. Some mobile sites unfortunately do not recognize IE10's capabilities and feed it older, low fidelity pages, a problem that should be rectified with market share.

Also, you can gain direct access to tabs through a setting change.

just asking wrote:

MS Acct:You can't add more than one MS account, so if you have a hotmail account (for work) that you use for email and contacts and also want to use your xbox acct (personal) you can only use one MS acct. To change it means to do a factory reset on the device. There is no option to switch in and out of MS accts like on iOS and Droid. The MOST annoying and surprisingly overlooked aspect of the OS in my opinion.

You are right that your phone is paired to a single Microsoft ID (for purchases and music streaming), but you can add any number of Microsoft Hotmail, Outlook.com or Exchange email accounts to the phone (as well as Gmail, etc.)

I was reading through, waiting for the criticism to stop and the praise to start, in order to justify the claim that this was the best WP8 phone. It didn't happen. The buttons are "shallow, so it's hard to feel them click."; the call quality is "not fantastic"; the quality of the screen is "not so great, particularly if it's a non-mobile webpage"; "blacks at the highest brightness setting are noticeably washed out" (although this is to be expected with an LCD); the battery was "probably what leaves most to be desired"; and finally (being WP8) the app situation is "a self-perpetuating problem".

There was some praise for the body, speaker and camera, and naturally the hardware runs WP8 very smoothly. But those are pretty much the only good things you had to say about the HTC 8X.

I would love to be convinced otherwise as my brand loyalty only extends as far as, and for as long as, the product fulfils my needs. But so far the only way the 8X is superior is size, weight and loudspeaker performance. Is that really enough compared to the 920 with twice the storage capacity, better screen, camera and battery, far superior OEM apps and extra features like wireless charging? Really??

It's crazy to see Microsoft struggle. A few years back I thought they were untouchable on top of the personal computing market. Let's face it they acted like complete jerks back then and I can't help but smirk at some of their struggles now. Yet I want WP8 to succeed, and I'm not sure why. Maybe my gut is telling me that 3 players in the market would be best for consumers. Maybe it's Microsoft's traditional role as the best choice for gamers. I think metro works brilliantly on a phone and it's truly forward thinking for Microsoft. I'm going to try this phone out, but I'm such a heavy app user I'm not sure I can make the leap. These next couple of years are going to be very interesting. Very reminiscent of the 80's and 90's when the PC market was shaking out. What a great time to be a nerd.

Windows Mobile left a lot to be desired, but when it came out it wasn't _that_ bad compared to the other options available. I'd had a couple of PalmOS smartphones before moving through a couple of windows mobile devices (one was WM6, the other could have been WM5, or maybe PocketPC '03, I can't remember). Overall I think I preferred PalmOS to the early Windows Mobile phones.

The iPhone really revolutionized the smartphone market. I remember the first time I played with an iPhone at an AT&T store - I was blown away by how user friendly and fluid it was compared to all of the previous devices I'd had. Before the iPhone smartphones were mostly business oriented, it was the iPhone that really made them 'gotta have it' gadgets for everyone regardless of if they needed it for work or not.

I think MS was caught a bit off guard in that abrupt transition (much like RIM). WP8 feels great for a modern media and web-centric smartphone OS, but it still has the business document and exchange support that those users will need. I feel like MS may have waited a year or two too long to get serious about this market, but the end result product is very, very, good.

There are some rough edges here and there, and it will obviously need a bit of polish, but the nice thing about WP8 is that like iOS, and unlike Android, MS will be able to push updates without carrier interference, so these things can get worked out. Buying a WP8 device now might still qualify one for 'early adopter' status, but I'm confident that the missing bits and rough edges will be rectified soon enough. I don't feel like I'm missing anything compared to my iPhone (well, besides a percentage based battery indicator) but I do feel like I'm gaining a lot of flexibility and useful features I didn't have in iOS (to to mention a phone with a large enough screen to enjoy using it for web browsing, which was my main issue with the iPhone 5).

The one area where I find the 8X to be objectively better than the 920 is audio quality with headphones (with Beats enabled). This phone is really, really good as a music player.

There's more going on than mere equalization; the 8X has a seemingly excellent analog output stage capable of driving serious headphones. The sound quality is surprisingly good.

Headphone output is a particularly weak point on the 920. If you happen to have a pair of high quality Bluetooth headphones (which fortunately I do), you will find audio quality is substantially improved over using the headphone jack (because the digital stream bypasses the analog output stage). This is really unfortunate, and is my only serious criticism of Nokia's flagship device.

Thanks for all the feedback, im going to take the app suggestions and tweak IE a bit and give this phone a second go round' plus once spotify gets updated i'll be a happy camper because music is mostly what i use my phone for. Yeah phone is what i use my phone for the least.

Interesting that one of the things that the phone is knocked for is battery life. My 8X on T-Mobile is easily going three full days on a single charge with moderate use. It will make it well into a 4th day, but I feel like I'm really pushing my luck at that point. Two days is a cinch.

My Lumia 920 (on AT&T), on the other hand, barely makes it through a day.

The one area where I find the 8X to be objectively better than the 920 is audio quality with headphones (with Beats enabled). This phone is really, really good as a music player.

There's more going on than mere equalization; the 8X has a seemingly excellent analog output stage capable of driving serious headphones. The sound quality is surprisingly good.

I've actually found the opposite. If you don't turn on the Beats audio feature, the 8X is seriously lacking in volume -- even turned all the way up it isn't anywhere near loud enough. And if you enable Beats, it becomes way too bass heavy and tiring to listen to.

The 920 is quieter than the 8X when Beats is enabled, but not everybody wants to have the bass line of their music drown out the rest of it. And with Beats disabled, the 920 is louder.

I got my Lumia 920 two weeks ago and am loving it. It beats out HTC 8X as my choice because (in order of significance):

1. Nokia 920 has 32GB; I would have maxed out the storage with HTC 8X.2. Nokia Map and Nokia Drive (downloaded all US maps for offline use - 2GB)

I can't speak to HTC 8X, but so far, the followings about the 920 have impressed me:1. Great voice quality (blow my old Samsung Galaxy out of the water)2. Great camera, esp. in low light (better than my mid-range point-and-shoot camera!)3. Ease of photo editing; and I never thought I would edit photo on a phone4. Beautiful screen and decent battery life

Interesting that one of the things that the phone is knocked for is battery life. My 8X on T-Mobile is easily going three full days on a single charge with moderate use. It will make it well into a 4th day, but I feel like I'm really pushing my luck at that point. Two days is a cinch.

My Lumia 920 (on AT&T), on the other hand, barely makes it through a day.

Background Tasks. This was the key to maximizing my battery life. Many apps you install want to run in the background automatically and really aren't necessary (news reader apps, weather, metrotube, facebook, Groupon, etc.) I disabled every app but Battery Level for WP8, which is a very nice app BTW. Doing this my battery life on my Lumia 920 has substantially improved. I'd imagine doing this for your 8X may likewise help. I also turned off NFC as I am not using it. Not sure if that is/was a potential culprit, but no reason to have it on if I am not using it.

Since others are talking about the 920, I'll share my thoughts

The Nokia apps are truly great. I used Nokia Drive on a recent trip I had to go on last minute and it was awesome. Nokia Music is nice as well.

The phone is a large, but by no means cumbersome or "too heavy". At least for me, coming from the Lumia 900 and iPhone4 and 3G previously, its hardly noticeable. It's comfortable in my hand and feels solid. The 920's performace is excellent. Moving within apps, using the phone its just very fast and fluid.

Two problems/complaints:1 - I've had two random reboots and have had to hard power off/on. These were both after installing apps. Not sure the cause, but has not happened in a couple of weeks. I've owned the phone almost a month IIRC.2 - ATT included no headphones. iPhone/iPod headset/mics are not compatible. I've owned RIM and Apple devices and purchased Android devices for a previous employer and EVERY phone had a headset except the Lumias. I submitted feedback to Nokia on this via twitter and email.

I guess I am in the minority here but I don't have heaps of apps for my phone. I don't need them, so it doesn't concern me that the app store is lacking. What I have found is useful, but I still mainly use my phone for texting and calling. The odd photo taking (if I dont have a camera with me) and web browsing (when need dictates it) but with the phone plans here I don't want to pay more for what I can do on a PC and/or laptop with a broadband connection (or wireless hotspot). For me no smartphone at this stage is an all in one device. Convergence is happening I know, but I'm not sure we're there yet with all in one devices.

I've had two random reboots and have had to hard power off/on. These were both after installing apps. Not sure the cause, but has not happened in a couple of weeks. I've owned the phone almost a month IIRC.

I pre ordered a Lumia 920, and have been shocked at how much I love it. I love my iPad 2 too, but find something about WP8 fun and refreshing.

I can't speak to the HTC 8x, but it seems a lot of people are knocking the review here...for what is, at the end of the day, a subjective matter: if Ars likes the 8x better, they like the 8x better. Good for them.

I hope you guys do find the time to give the 920 a proper review, though. It's a great device and worthy of a write up; especially because it does feature some neat Nokia branded stuff that makes it stand out from the crowd. The Nokia mapping on my device has already been a hugely pleasant surprise for me: I got lost trying to take short cut after a long day of business meetings in an unfamiliar city a week or so ago, and my Garmin couldn't find the road I was looking for. The 920 picked it up immediately, and successfully guided me over there. My previous phone - and I use that term loosely - was a Samsung Captivate - and if I ever had to rely on that for directions, I would still be lost today.

And also, to those experiencing battery issues with the 920, you should try disabling Bluetooth and location services, when you're not using them. Those two services seem to take a huge toll on my battery, but when they're disabled I get literally days of moderate use out of the phone. Worth a shot, if you're not already doing it. Good luck!

This has been an interesting discussion. I'd pretty much decided on a 920 as my probable next phone (depends on if my carrier offers me a good deal) but then saw the Ars article which made me think again. After reading the comments I think the 920 will be the phone I will get if the deal is right. It's been a helpful exchange of views.

I've had the 8x for a couple weeks now. I was debating a lot between the 8x and the 920. I ended up going with the 8x (getting for free after rebates (on 2yr contract) -- check around, deals do come up from time to time).

I noticed the same about the buttons being depressed a bit thus making them hard to find - mainly the top button. However I like cases on my phones for extra protection. I ended up getting the HTC hardshell case. This one is made by HTC. It is the same color blue as the phone and really didn't add to much width to it. The nice thing is it makes it much easier to push the buttons.

I know cases aren't for everyone, but do recommend checking it out if you are in the hunt for one. Seems to be hard to find though. I've only seen it at the Microsoft Store (where I bought it). Not listed on the MS store site. I did see it through 3rd party seller on Amazon, but no longer seeing it on there (was going to add a link).